MTV, IBN-7 and Headlines Today have been issued show cause notices by the Information & Broadcasting Ministry for violating the programme code.

MTV has been issued notice for ‘denigration’ of women in its reality show ‘Splitsvilla’. The programme has 20 girls seeking the attention of two boys, who are the judges and must choose between the girls. Targeted at the youth, the reality show winners have a chance of becoming VJs.

The I&B Ministry had received a complaint about an episode telecast on July 12 that was found to be in bad taste and denigrated women by objectifying the girls. It has issued a notice to MTV, demanding an explanation within 15 days.

IBN-7 has earned the I&B Ministry’s ire for a programme aired on June 27. An explanation has been sought as to why the channel was encouraging superstition by claiming that Lord Ram and Hanuman had appeared in the form of a ball of fire. The programme had shown that the two deities had appeared in a village called Nero, 200 km from Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia.

Headlines Today’s programme on July 6 on the bikini completing 62 years was found to be objectionable and indecent. The channel had, according to the complaint, featured pictures of models in bikinis and photographs of topless women.

It may be recalled that the Ministry had banned fashion channel FTV and AXN for short periods in 2007 over objectionable content.